Make those New Year's resolutions really last

In the previous blog, we mentioned setting goals. It's important to know why you want to do something and where you want to go. This can help you pace yourself, so that you can be in it for the long run, rather than feel good for a short period of time.

If one of your goals is to do well in a particular tournament, you need to take into account that in South Africa, major tournaments occur between May and August. Therefore, you really want to gear your goals to allow you to peak then. League matches begin in March, so you need to use your January and February to get the bulk of your fitness stuff done, so that it provides a strong foundation to any racket skills work you do in-season.

I like to work backwards when I set goals, borrowed from Stephen Covey approach in "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People". So a basic backward outline would like this:

1) Identify major events starting in June

Name the event: WP Champions or SA nationals or Club Champs or Ultra Fun Tournament or whatever.

2) Identify minor, but key events leading up to major event

You can use regular events in the calendar to track your progress, like other tournaments and league matches.

3) Identify supportive events to use as training

Weekly club training or group training events are fantastic to keep you on track.

4) Identify training sessions and how often

Training can involve: strength and condition exercises; skills and drills on the squash court; play time in match conditions.

You need to find a balance in your training schedule for all of these. If you are short for time, then time on court should rather be prioritised over time in the gym.

5) What do I start with, and when do I need to prioritise what.

Diarize your major and minor events. Outline the days that you can commit to training. Decided when is the time for court work, and when is the time for conditioning, or both.

Find someone to join you in most of your training or join group training sessions. Then start training.

Remember, you are in it for the long run. So, make sure you know how to pace yourself.

#newyear #healthyliving #2020goals #squashtraining